70 THE BOOK OF BEE-KEEPING. 



before honey commences to come in, in autumn after the flow 

 has ceased, or in the interim between the cessation of one 

 description of flower blossom and the commencement of another. 

 Spring robbing is quite a mild affair as compared with autumn. 

 In an apiary where many hives are kept, the application of the 

 tuft of grass, contracted entrances or carbolised sheet will be 

 found most effectual. " Prevention is better than cure " — take 

 the precautions we have advised, keep all colonies strong, and 

 be sure no queenless stocks remain in the apiary, and any 

 serious case of robbing will be unknown. 



118. Iioss of Mother (Queen) Bee. — The absence of the 

 queen from a hive before the honey-flow takes place is a very 

 serious consideration — in fact it is so at any time, with the 

 exception of very late in the season, when a hive can be queenless 

 for some considerable time without any very serious consequences 

 resulting ; but it is advisable to have a young, strong, and 

 fertile queen in the hive at all times. The age of the queen 

 ought very rarely to exceed two years. There are cases when 

 a queen in her third year is as prolific as in her second ; such 

 a one should be preserved, if only for rearing others from. 

 Queens are lost in a variety of ways, frequently, when flying 

 to meet the drone, failing, on returning, to enter their own hive. 

 Especially is this so when a number of hives are collected close 

 together, and all are of one shape and colour. Birds occasionally 

 catch and kill a queen. Queens whose wings have become 

 damaged are unable to fly, and so drop upon the ground when 

 swarming takes place, and are thus frequently lost ; or in the 

 case of a virgin queen whose wings are imperfectly developed, 

 the same accident may take place. The loss of a virgin queen 

 from a hive which has recently swarmed is a very serious accident, 

 as there are frequently no larvae young enough to raise into a 

 queen, and such a colony must dwindle away and die. Colonies 

 frequently become queenless in late autumn and in early spring 

 through being over-manipulated. Manipulate as little as possible 

 at these times, and always with great care ; do not excite the 

 bees too much. Some thin warm syrup poured between the 

 combs before handling will prevent the loss of the queen at these 

 seasons by what is termed "balling." This is the cause of 

 numbers of colonies becoming queenless. Queens usually live 

 about four years, and when their powers of reproduction visibly 

 commence to fail, the workers supersede them, killing the queen 

 and rearing another in her place. 



119. Balling. — When a hive is over - manipulated in the 

 autumn or spring, it will sometimes occur that the workers will 

 form a compact mass around the queen, like a ball the 

 size of a walnut, and will thus suffocate her, unless she is released 

 from their embrace. This is called " Balling." When it is 



